Star shines brightly

The Philippine Star celebrates its 30th anniversary today and as a sports columnist who joined the country’s No. 1 newspaper in 1987, I’m proud and honored to be associated with the hard-working, principled and dedicated men and women behind the publication. The STAR continues to shine brightly today and will do so for the next 30 years and beyond. The mission of delivering the truth in the highest form of integrity, journalistic skill and patriotism is what drives all of us with The STAR to achieve excellence in our work.

In observation of The Star’s 30th anniversary, we track the 30 significant milestones in the history of Philippine sports over the last 30 years.

• Manny Pacquiao undoubtedly becomes the greatest Filipino boxer ever as he captures an unprecedented eight world championships in eight different divisions. No fighter comes close to even duplicating Pacquiao’s feat. He won his first world crown in the flyweight division in 1998 and lost his last title in the welterweight division in a unification showdown with Floyd Mayweather in 2015. It is estimated that Pacquiao has earned more than $450 Million in his boxing career that started in 1995.

• The Philippines wins the overall championship of the Southeast Asian Games for the first and only time ever in 2005 with 113 gold, 84 silver and 94 bronze medals. Second placer Thailand bagged 87 gold, 78 silver and 118 bronze medals. Manila was the main hub of the Games.

• In the last 30 years, the Philippines has collected only three official Olympic medals – all from the lightflyweight division in boxing. Leopoldo Serrantes took the bronze in 1988, Roel Velasco the bronze in 1992 and Onyok Velasco the silver in 1996. Stephen Fernandez and Bea Lucero claimed a bronze apiece in the demonstration sport of taekwondo in 1992 but their efforts were not reflected in the medal standings. Arianne Cerdena bagged the gold in women’s bowling in 1988 but that was in a demonstration sport, too. Willy Wang struck gold in wushu in 2008 but the sport was only a side event during the Beijing Olympics.

• The PSC was created by law in 1990 and is the government agency that funds the national elite program and provides for grassroots development. Through the years, the PSC was headed by chairman Cecil Hechanova, Perry Mequi, Mel Lopez, Philip Juico, Butch Tuazon, Eric Buhain, Butch Ramirez, Harry Angping, Richie Garcia and now on his second term, Ramirez.

• Wesley So has emerged to become the greatest Filipino chess player ever. He’s now ranked in the world top 10 at the age of 22. In 2014, So shifted allegiance to the US after years of representing the Philippines in international competitions. The grandmaster is in the record books as the youngest player ever to pass the 2600 ELO rating in 2008.

• The Philippine national basketball team returns to play at the FIBA World Cup in Spain in 2014 after a 36-year absence. Gilas, coached by Chot Reyes, beat Senegal in the group stage to book the country’s first win in the World Cup in 40 years.

• Philippine cycling remains a popular sport and Le Tour de Filipinas is the annual event held in Luzon as part of the Asian circuit. Le Tour traces its roots to 1955 when it was known as the Tour of Luzon. Mark Galedo was the last Filipino to rule the ride in 2014 as Thomas Lebas of France and Oleg Zemlyakov of Kazakhstan topped Le Tour in the last two stagings. Le Tour was also called the Marlboro Tour, Tour of Calabarzon, Tour Pilipinas and Padyak Pinoy previously.

• Philippine tennis was at its peak in the Davis Cup when the national team competed at the World Group qualifying round in 1991. But in the last five years, the Philippines has been stuck in Group II of the Asia Oceania zone. The Philippines made it to Group I in 2010-11. The Philippines has played as a founding franchise member of the International Premier Tennis League the last two years with the Mavericks drawing incredible local fan support for the matches at the MOA Arena.

• The Philippine national basketball team settles for the silver at the Beijing Asian Games in 1990 with head coach Robert Jaworski at the helm. It was the first time that PBA players were allowed to represent the country with the introduction of FIBA’s open policy. The players in the Big J’s roster were Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Rey Cuenco, Yves Dignadice, Ramon Fernandez, Dante Gonzalgo, Samboy Lim, Chito Loyzaga, Ronnie Magsanoc, Benjie Paras, Zaldy Realubit and Alvin Patrimonio. The Philippines has since not been able to finish at least second in the Asiad.

• Archer Gabriel Moreno combines with China’s Li Jiaman to collect the gold in the mixed team archery event at the 2014 Youth Summer Olympics in Nanjing. It’s been the only medal awarded to a Filipino since the Youth Summer Games were launched in 2010 in Singapore. Moreno’s achievement, however, was not credited to the Philippines but to an entity called Mixed-NOCs (National Olympic Committees).

The next 10 milestones will be listed in tomorrow’s column.